


17 Dresses (Back into the dark again.)

by AngelWithoutWings



Category: Ready or Not (2019)
Genre: Alex is a snake, Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Becky though is pretty great, Daniel is also reliving this time loop, Emilie is the worst, F/M, Grace has been through some shit, Kinda, Like 17 fucking times, She's kinda over it, The author thinks alex kinda sucks, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Time Loop, in like i respect you but you're still terrible
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-22 06:50:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20869988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelWithoutWings/pseuds/AngelWithoutWings
Summary: Grace has lived through this night so many times it's getting hard to keep track. Every night the disaster of her wedding repeats. Every night at the godforsaken table in that game room, she prays that maybe she won't pull Hide and Seek. (She always does). Daniel catches her eyes often and she feels a chill run up her spin. (The devil does love a good game, but every game has rules.)





	17 Dresses (Back into the dark again.)

Night 1. There’s a first time for everything

Grace walks calmly out of the burning house, down the steps, and sits on the bottom few. She pulls one cigarette out of her new case and lights it. Takes a quick drag. She can distantly hear the sound of sirens.

Just yesterday she’d walked up the white aisle in her pristine, flowing, white wedding dress surrounded by guests, future inlaws, and staff. 

Now she sits there in her bloody, ripped, muddy dress. One of the sleeves is wrapped around her shot through hand. There is a tear where the knife cut into her shoulder. The wedding site is empty, all the guests gone, all her inlaws and staff either killed by one of their own or her, or Mr. Le Bail.

She’s numb, unfeeling to anything outside her. The heat of the burning house and the pain from her wounds don’t register. 

She took some modicum of joy from watching the remains of her inlaws explode in a bloody mess, especially Alex. After he tried to royally fuck her over. And that aunt, so hellbent on killing her. For what? Helene is dead now, dead and bitter.

It’s easier not to think about Daniel. To push him away to the back of her mind. To hold onto the anger and joy she felt at the karma the rest of his family displayed towards her. But Grace doesn’t do easier, so she sits there and underneath the numbness she regrets how the one person who redeemed himself, who tried, was killed by his own wife. If anyone deserved to be sitting here as much as she does it’s him, only him.

By now one of the EMTs has reached her and he asks her questions she can’t even respond too. Until he asks one.

“Ma’am can you tell us what happened here?” He asks. Grace takes a final drag.

“Inlaws.” She whispers.

Night 2. It’s easier to pretend it’s all just a dream

Grace looks calmly into the mirror and recites her vows, the true ones that she wants desperately to say. When Alex appears in the doorway.

She does a double take, she remembers waking up that morning from the craziest dream about some terrifying game of hide and seek, the devil, really shitty inlaws, and exploding husbands.

“I can’t believe that in half an hour I will be a part of the Le Domas family gaming… dynasty, empire?” Grace asks.

“Dominion we prefer dominion.” Alex responds. The entire back and forth banter would be adorable if the weird sense of deja vu didn’t settle like a pit in her stomach.

“I honestly can’t wait to be apart of your family.” She says smiling as she’s drawn in for a kiss.

Daniel enters moments later and she’s overcome with a crushing regret. He pauses for just a second before continuing on with his agenda. Alex and Daniel banter back and forth and then the three are shown out of the room and down to the veranda overlooking a long fountain extending toward the gardens.

A professional photographer has set up lighting and the perfect spot for photos. Grace stands next to all her soon to be family and tries so hard to smile convincingly as they whisper things to her.

“They’re just trying to see if you’re a gold-digging bitch, like my wife.” Daniel says.

“Alex can do so much better than you.” The father, Tony, says.

The three maids all give her a thinly-veiled glare.

Alex’s mother is so kind and welcoming that she can almost forget the death glare of the crazy haired aunt.

Next thing she knows she’s married and the reception is over and she’s a little tipsy and tripping over her dress to get Alex to bed so they can continue their 18 month bonathon as husband and wife. 

But then the pit in her stomach grows bigger.

“A game? What game?” She asks. Alex nods.

“You pick a card, play the game and then you’re part of the family.” Alex explains.

“Do I have to win the game?” Grace asks.

“No.”

“Okay then.” Grace says and they descend the staircase to find the entire family waiting in front of the doors. Le Domas inscribed across them. They open into a room wall to wall with weapons, stuffed animal heads, and portraits.

She’s given the whole speech about the great-grandfather and Mr. Le Bail and the game. The card is put in the box. The box is handed to her. It whirs quietly before popping open. She goofily smiles and she picks it up and read it while the family intently watches.

The floor drops out from under her and the smile drops from her face for a second.

“Hide and Seek are we really gonna play that?’ She asks as she tries to quell the rising panic. Everyone else looks grim. She keeps smiling while Alex’s father explains the rules before letting her lose into the quickly darkening mansion until only candles light her way.

She finds the dumbwaiter and the night begins for real.

She waits as long as she can before she exits and is found again by Alex.

She watches one of the maids - Claire her name is Claire - gets shot by Emilie again.

“Oh Jesus, you shot the maid.” Alex’s father says.

“Does she look like she’s wearing a giant white wedding dress Emilie?” Daniel asks sarcastically.

Daniel, Helene and Alex’s father move the body out while Emilie gives herself a cocaine filled pep-talk and Alex sneaks Grace into the servants passages. Gives her the converse, tells her the escape plan, and disappears to go help her escape. She rips her dress and sneaks out a door… straight into the light of Helene’s lantern as Daniel sarcastically quips.

“Found her.” She turns to run and comes face to face with a screaming Emilie, who fires three shots that Grace dodges, blowing past the girl while her father screams, from where he’s huddled for cover.

“Goddamnit Emilie.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing.” She replies with a huff.

Grace escapes to an empty study. She’s flat against the wall, breathing so heavily and tears in her eyes. Then the servants door next to her opens and Daniel walks out.

They make eye contact.

“I just came to get a drink.” He said walking over and picking up a bottle of brandy.

“I have to call the others.” He says defeated.

“No you don’t,” she pleads in between labored breaths, “You could help me. Please.”

“This doesn’t end well for you, I just don’t want to be the one to serve you up.” He says brandishing the drink toward her.

“Daniel, I’m begging you.” She pleads.

“I’m sorry about all this, it’s true what they say, the rich really are different.” He looks up at the picture and then he looks at her.

“How does the third maid die?” He asks quietly.

“What?” Grace asks.

“How does the third maid die? The first, Claire you just saw. The second and third haven’t died yet and you couldn’t know the second, but the third you could have seen so if you can answer this I’ll know my answer.” He explains.

“She’s crushed in the dumbwaiter, I find her and she tries to call you all and she hits the button and I can’t open it and she dies.” Grace says, still gasping.

“You’re right, I’ll give you a ten second head start.” He says.

“Daniel.” She says and last time she was begging for him to say nothing but this time she thinks it might be some way of saying thank you.

She takes off into the house as he sits back and begins to count.

“She’s in the study.” His call rings out across the mansion and all she can think about is that he’s leading them astray because he remembers, the same way she does.

The third maid, Cora, is once again crushed by the dumbwaiter.

Several hours later, her dress is in shambles, there is a bullet hole in her hand, a tear across her back, she’s partially covered in blood, and she’s fallen into a corpse compost. She wields a knife like a cornered animal lashes out. Somewhere the house is starting to catch fire.

Daniel is lying on the floor dead again, Becky is dead at the foot of the table where Grace killed her. The rest of the family is shocked as Aunt Helene reveals dawn has broken. They all cower as if they’re vampires about to crumble into ash.

Just like the first time, they don’t. Then Aunt Helene, bitter and about to be dead throws the axe back to strike with a cry of, “She still dies.”

She promptly explodes bloodily.

Grace smiles and lets out a quiet snort. Charity goes next, whimpering like last time. Justice for Daniel. That earns a full giggle.

Emilie tries to escape with Georgie - the little shit - and her other son. They make it out the door before they splatter the walls.

Fitch goes next with similar pleas to Charity. By now Grace is laughing and thoroughly bloodsoaked.

Tony, the father gets angry and mad at the chair. He goes up in blood a few seconds before his rant can finish.

Alex is once again the only one left besides Grace. He pleads, oh how he pleads. It’s pitiful. With the same glee she had from last time she slowly removes her wedding band and throws it at him.

“I want a divorce.” He explodes right in front of her. Both she and her dress become drenched in blood. 

Mr. Le Bail appears for a second again and nods his praise. She’s slightly less shocked but she turns and picks up the lighter and case from Becky’s untouched corpse as she exits the room.

She exits the manse and walks down the steps, and sits at the bottom. She pops open the cigarette case; lights one up and takes a drag.

The EMTs swarm around the place and this time she only thinks of Daniel and Alex.

Alex, who both times had turned hateful when she said no, but begged to save his own skin. She’d begged to save her own skin too but she hadn’t tried to kill anyone.

Daniel, who remembered the first time; who had helped her both times; who deserved to be sitting here with her.

The EMT comes up to her again and asks her his questions.

She responds again, “Inlaws.”

Night 4. Epic

An angel alone in the world is a terrible thing.

One day an angel, one whose wings shown pure white, descended from on high to live a life. When she arrived, she was met with resistance. Eventually she became a wandering vagabond. She rarely stayed with people long, always moving on. Through it all her wings remained white and her desire for a family returned.

Then the angel, one of true grace, met a demon in disguise. Part of the Le Domas clan of demons, who had lived on earth and cultivated an empire. The demon, whose darkness rested only in his heart of hearts, charmed the angel. Swept her off her feet. And eventually love formed. So the demon who loved the angel, proposed, and the angel who loved the demon, said yes. She regretted it.

The angel and demon returned to the demon’s ancestral mansion, a den of evil, deceit, and betrayal. On the steps of this manse they were married. When the clock struck twelve, though, all hell broke loose.

The demonic Le Domas clan, all beautiful of face but vile of heart but for one, hunted the angel throughout their dominion. In the process they lost the maids, three succubi and the butler, a lowly servant.

The angel, who’s wings had begun to become a canvas for blood and dirt, began to dirty, along with her wedding dress. Her dress was ripped and shredded, her wings missing feathers. Under her wing joints lays a cut. Her hand had a gunshot wound in it. She’s had a nail pushed through the hole in her hand. Risen from a proverbial grave.

She was eventually captured by the demons. Strapped onto an altar for their patron to take her from. Then one of the demons, her love’s brother. A kind heart overpowered by the fear of familial retribution. He saved her and they escaped as fast as possible, only for the demon’s wife to attack them and take him. She knocked her out, only to face the demon mother. A stone cold ice demon. 

It’s her, she had respect for, as they wrestle for any leverage on the floor. The ice mother gains the advantage and presses it with low insults. An angel with clipped wings to match her dress. The angel reaches, she had to survive, she’s come so far. She grabs something and knocks out the mother. She lays into her with a scream.

“Fuck your fucking family.” Her screams border on sobs. She’s gonna survive because fuck what they say, she’s going to fucking soar.

When she comes back to herself the ice mother is dead and the angel looks up to see her husband. She sees something in his eyes, an uncertainty, a fear. In that moment she knows.

She’s caught again, betrayed by that demon whom said he’d loved her. She escapes again, with a knife to keep her aggressors at bay. Then the crazy aunt, a demon of madness revealed the dawn. The demon’s, ignorant to their contracts fine print, don’t explode right away. Until that bitter aunt, scorned once, sought revenge. She paid for it, and with that went the rest.

The wife of the one who helped her, her husband’s sister and family, and her father-in-law exploded. Her husband, poor fool, pleaded and she took some meager joy in it, smiled and removed her wedding band.

“I want a divorce.” The last demon exploded.

She exited the house, walked down the steps of the terrace and sat. Her wings unfurled, naked to the human eye. The cigarette between her fingers routinely being taken. Her eyes locked on a thousand yard stare. The buzzing EMT in her ear barely registers. Until he asks a question that deserves an answer.

“Ma’am can you tell us what happened?”

“Rich people.”

Night 6. The rules become clear

She breaks the rules once. She’s just woken up from a terrible night and decides she’s not going to go through it again.

That’s her first mistake. She sits in that room where she’s been nearly sacrificed five times. She sits down for all of five seconds before she makes a break for it, picks up the cross-bow and fires one shot. She takes out crazy aunt Helene.

Before she can unload another shot she feels it.

The anger pressing in on her from somewhere. Her body won’t survive it she knows.

She explodes within seconds and covers the whole table.

Alex is completely covered in blood, his face is frozen in petrified shock. Grief sets in a few seconds later as the family mourns aunt Helene. He picks up the cross bow and mows down the family with simple accuracy. Daniel is the only one left sitting at the table. Alex blows up seconds later.

Daniel is left alone. So he exits the room, and the house and picks up a bottle of whiskey on the way. He sits at the bottom of the stairs and thinks about death, and suicide. Then he hears a voice that sounded suspiciously like his mother. It tells him to buck up, suicide is for selfish people. His mother was ever the practical to his father’s terrible intensity. He likes to think he’s like her and in moments like these it’s easy to see why. 

So he sits for hours until he passes out drunk. He wakes up back before this started, again.

Night 7. Grace steals a gun that works

Now Grace knows the rules, nothing can happen before the game officially starts. Which means she has to suffer through an entire day of false pleasantries and veiled threats and the bloodlust that can practically be smelled.

And then she remembers, as she’s walking down the aisle, Charity’s gun. It’s what gets her to smile so prettily for this sham wedding. 

Later during the reception she makes sure to grab it and hide it in the folds of her dress. This gown has gotten her through six other terrible nights. It won’t fail her this time.

She pulls the card, plays her part for the first few hours. She waits in the dumbwaiter, gets found by Alex, watches the first maid die, Alex goes to unlock the doors.

But now she has one thing that can protect her. She escapes outside, topples into the goat pit, and must ascend from it’s disgusting depths once again. 

She claws her way through the gate, gets tracked through the woods by that awful butler, steals a car, gets kidnapped and then frees herself.

Once again she runs into Daniel, and once again they have to pretend to betray each other.

She is tied to the table for the sixth time. And Daniel helps free her again. And then Charity appears.

She stops them, proceeds to dig around in her clutch. Gets increasingly more frantic and finally throws it with a huff. 

She runs away only for Tony to come barreling in, releasing two shots for her. She’s shocked, the script has been broken and in seconds Daniel in on the floor bleeding from his two bullet wounds. 

Grace is sobbing now as she raises Charity’s gun and fires at Tony who scampers away like a mouse. And she comes face to face with Becky. The arrow that was about to hit her face embedded itself in a painting right behind her.

“Sorry, I’m a bit out of practice.” She said kindly. With a growl she swung her bow at Grace. The gun was thrown from her hand. They ended up rolling on the floor. Becky on top, then Grace, then Becky.

Suddenly Grace felt hands at her throat as Becky pinned her down. She turned and spied the gun out of the corner of her eye. Reaching toward, she felt the pressure on her shoulder mounting until she felt cool metal under her fingertips.

With a cry she wrapped her hand around it and pulled it back, shooting a single bullet up at Becky.

“Fuck your fucking family!” She sobbed out.

As Becky lay dying, Alex walked in to find his blood-soaked bride who had suffered 6 nights of torture and knew that he would never truly stay with her.

And he did. She ended up with a knife to her shoulder a new weapon.

Then the sun came up. And Daniel and Becky were still dead, and this terrible family would once again not accept their loss. And they would once again pay for it. Helene went first, then Charity, Emilie and children, Fitch, and finally Tony each blew up in a fountain of blood.

Alex always left last, in the largest explosion of all. 

She only had to say one sentence.

‘I want a divorce.” Then a large splatter of blood rained on her as her ex-husband exploded. She smiled, finding any humor in this terrible situation. Because the truth was it was becoming numb. She had lived through this night 7 times and each time her heart raced and fear took over, but at the end when she watched an entire family explode in a bloody mess, she could only laugh hysterically. It was nerve-wracking, de-humanizing even.

She instead watched the flames of the fireplace slowly fan out across the room, and without waiting she turned and walked out. She didn’t even stop to pick up the cigarette case, just dropped the gun and made her way out to the veranda. Sat at the bottom of the steps and stared off into the distance.

Without noticing it, she began to cry. Seems she was still human after all.

Night 11. No more Mrs. Nice Girl

Grace wakes up again after a disastrous tenth night. She’s angry, because in the last loop Alex had killed Daniel. Alex had betrayed both her and Daniel.

No more Mrs. Nice Girl, if this loop is gonna keep repeating then she might as well get some revenge.

She looks up a video about using a shotgun, pretending she’s showering. She did quickly. The video explained everything she needed to know. 

She’s taking control of the game tonight.

The wedding ceremony and pictures continued as normal, they had to of course.

Again, Grace finds herself at that godforsaken table with this sadistic family. She shares a small look with Daniel. The box whirs in her hand and for the eleventh time spits out… 

“Hide and Seek, are we really gonna play that?” They always did.

The family looks grim. Grace is shepherded outside the room and explained the rules.

“So there’s no way for me to win, right?” She asks.

“I mean… stay hidden till dawn.” Tony replies with a laugh.

“No thank you.” She says with a small giggle.

“Good luck.” 

She then takes off into the mansion, finds the dumbwaiter, calms her breaths and waits. She went over her plan in her mind.

Step one.) Get the hell out of the dumbwaiter. She exits into a dark corridor. Before the maid could come calling for Georgie, she enters the bedroom where Alex is hiding.

The two hide behind the bed as the maid searches for the little shit.

“I know you’re in here.” The maid says walking toward the door.

*BANG!* A gunshot rang out as the maid’s body crumples to the floor.

Emilie runs in with cries of triumph followed by Tony, Helene, and Daniel.

The same argument breaks out. While the family members drag the maid’s body away, Grace and Alex sneak into the servant’s passage. She switches heels for converse, and her long train for a calf-length skirt with a rip.

Step 2.) Get to the Game room and get the Shotgun

Alex disappears to the security room. Grace exits the servants passage to the light of a lantern and the every witty Daniel’s quip.

“Found her.” The rest is a blur it’s happened so many times. She rushes past Emilie who misses all her shots again. Poor maids the only ones that actually Emilie can actually hit.

She ends up in the study. It’s always the study.

Daniel walks through the servant passage to her right.

“I need a drink. Last night was too crazy.” He says picking up the brandy. “What’s your plan tonight?” He asks.

“No more Mrs. Nice Girl.” She says as she turns toward the door. She hears a small laugh behind her.

“Okay then. I’ll give you a ten second head start.” He says almost fondly. She smiles as she takes off down the halls.

“She’s in the study.” Rings out behind her. She runs down the halls toward the game room. She opens the door and walks over to the shotgun with the ammunition belt under it. She pts the belt on, pops an ammunition shell in one of the barrels and walks out of the room.

3.) Get even

She runs for the kitchen, but just before she can open the door, the butler walks in. 

She sneaks around the island in the middle of the room. Silently she stands and raises the shotgun towards the butler.

*BANG!* A huge noise and then silence as the butler slumps to the floor. Grace races over to the kitchen door, rips it open before hiding in the servant’s passage and sneaking around.

She exits near the dumbwaiter to find the third maid, already crushed and bloody. Poor girl, too afraid to make a stand, too clumsy to save herself.

She takes a moment to replace the lost she’ll with a new one.

She listens and hears nothing. She heads back towards the kitchen. Peering inside she finds Charity and Fitch guarding the door.

*BANG! BANG!* Two more shots, two more dead bodies. Hopefully the rest of the family is either in the house and comes running or is outside and didn’t hear.

She once again hides in the servant’s passage, this time lying in wait for one of the family members to return.

She doesn’t have to wait long. Apparently Emilie didn’t go outside with the others, instead she had been off popping pills. Ugh, if anyone made her more sick than Alex, it was Emilie. This woman has killed over the course of the past ten nights a total of twenty maids. At this point it wasn’t even manslaughter.

Grace krept out of the servant’s passage, behind Emilie and raised the shotgun.

*BANG!* The third body slumped to the ground. Grace retreated further into the mansion. She doesn’t hear as the remaining family enter the kitchen to find three dead bodies besides the butler. 

And then there were Four...  
Daniel comes running in, panicked and Aunt Helene “accidently” delivers an axe in the gut. He lies there dying on the ground, innards on the floor. His father and aunt walk away. Becky is the only one that stays with him. So when Grace walks in hoping to run into Daniel…

She finds a distressed mother standing over her son’s slowly dying body.

Becky doesn’t look at her as she enters. She stands and pulls out a cigarette, lighting it calmly.

“I know you killed the other three, I must say I’m impressed. Emilie and Fitch don’t surprise me but to get the drop on Charity. It’s quite shocking. She always seemed to have a good head on her shoulders, that’s why I think Daniel married her. That and maybe to piss off Tony. I think that’s why he liked you too. For all your sense you weren’t Charity, you held onto some morals.”

After her speech she picked up her bow and arrow and whipped around. Only to be met with a gunshot to the chest. 

*BANG* Three left...

The mother crumpled to the floor as Grace turned to Daniel’s body.

She kneeled at his side and for the first time tonight, weeps, honest to God sobs.

Because this was supposed to be the one, where they win because god dammit they can’t keep living this night over and over. But then she remembers it’s not over yet. So she wipes away her tears, picks up the shotgun and reloads. She has three more rats to take care of.

Grace ran out the kitchen door, circling back along the veranda. 

The only other family members left in the house were Tony, Helene, and Alex. They were in the endgame now.

She calmly walked through the house, gun poised with two shells. Creeping slowly into the study she came face to face with Tony. Poor, insane, idiotic Tony. He turned and instead of raising his weapon slung a litany of insults at her. She didn’t smile, didn’t react. She raised the gun and with another *BANG* the patriarch of this awful clan.

Two to go...

Grace knows that Aunt Helene only has an axe so she walks through the halls calmly. Her gun is poised but most of the fear has alleviated as time ran out and the number of adversaries increased.

The bitter, crazy, bloodthirsty aunt appeared to be waiting for her in the game room. She turned with a smile.

“So you think you’ve won?” The crazy aunt was sat at the head of the table. Grace said nothing but raised the gun and put one finger on the trigger.

“Well, I know I’m done for but I think you are too.” Helene began to walk around the table, her axe no longer in her hands. Grace walked the opposite way determined to keep Helene in her sights and as far from her as possible.

“Alex was always meant to be the greatest of our clan, after all he saw Mr. Le Bail in his chair. So when you appeared out of nowhere, I knew that he was going to have to go through the same thing I did.” That gave Grace pause.

“Your husband pulled Hide and Seek.” Grace said. Helene nodded even though it wasn’t a question.

“It was necessary for the family, and necessary for me. Just in the way that you must be dealt with so Alex can realize his full potential. As long as he lives on, our dynasty continues.”

*BANG* and goodnight to poor bitter Helene.

One little demon and one little angel left all alone…

It was nearly dawn, the sun was just about to peak over the horizon when they found each other, in the dining room. The small box that had started this godforsaken game sat quiet and unassuming on the table. Alex stood looking at the fire.

“I never thought you’d actually kill them, but then again we all do crazy things when we’re pushed to our limits.” She can’t even voice a reply as he turns to her. She’s suffered so much in the past week and a half that this is just icing on the cake.

She doesn’t raise the gun, doesn’t need to.

“But that’s okay I can forgive you, after all you’ve almost been killed by so many people. We can be happy now, just you and us.” And there it is. The slight craziness is his tone, the possible begging filling in those cracks.

She places the gun down, takes her ring in her hand and speaks.

“I wanted to be part of your family so badly, but you’ve lied to me so many times. You’ve jumped ship so many times. I want a divorce.” She chucks her ring at him and watches as he explodes in a burst of blood. She hears similar explosions reverberate through the house. The spirit of the devil appears to her again and gives her his permission.

She burns the house again, because she thinks that’s better than letting it stay.

Again she finds herself on the veranda steps. The cigarette between her fingers isn’t too helpful but it offers some minor relief, that’s better than anything at this point. She completed her self appointed mission though, and Daniel still got burned.

She sat numb and thought, is this all there is. An endless cycle of pain and suffering.

She doesn’t say anything to the EMT when they arrive, doesn’t even look.

It’s just another day after another brutal wedding.

12\. Interlude

The less said about nights 12 through 15 the better... 

16\. One forgets

Grace is back sitting at this god forsaken table. She reads out the card.

“Hide and Seek, again.” Everyone looked on with matching expressions.

Something wasn’t right. Grace tried to make eye contact with Daniel, to see where he was at this time. He didn’t meet her eyes.

Tony, the stuck up patriarch, briefed her on the rules again. Again she ran and hid in the dumbwaiter till it was time to come out.

Again she was found by Alex. Again she freaked out about the situation, put on her converse, ripped her dress and exited the servant quarters to be discovered by Tony, Helene, and Daniel.

“Found Her.” Daniel quipped as Grace turned to race past Emilie, who was a terrible shot.

She raced into the study only for the servant door to open and Daniel to exit.

“I just came in to get a drink.” He says picking up a bottle of scotch instead of brandy.

“I need to call the others.” That threw her for a loop. It was like Daniel from the first loop all over again.

“No you don’t,” She pleads gasping for air, “you could help me.” Please let her be wrong.

“This doesn’t end well for you, I just don’t want to be the one to serve you up.” He says brandishing the drink.

“Daniel, how does the third maid die? How does Cora die?” Grace asks. Asks him the question he asked her during the second loop when she’s thought it all been a dream.

He turns to her like she’s crazy and she walks forward and clutches his arm.

“Daniel please remember, you have to help me. Please.” Suddenly Daniel wasn’t 37 with Grace, his new sister-in-law standing in front of him, he was 7 and his new uncle was standing in front of him pleading for help.

But Daniel was weak and just like that 7 year-old boy he cried out.

“She’s over here.” Grace panicked and raced through the servant quarters. His family appeared and ran after her.

She was caught within the hour. She was strapped to their table and the ritual began.

All of them participated even Alex. They cut out her heart and drank her blood mixed with wine.

And Grace Le Domas was no more, a sacrifice to their leader.

At dawn, Daniel asked his mother for a cigarette. He exited the house and walked down the steps to sit at the bottom.

He looked at the wedding ceremony that had been set up not 24 hours ago for a girl that was already dead. His brother, his kind brother had gladly killed her in the end.

That’s when Daniel knew his family was evil and deserved to die. 

His mother walked down the steps and whispered.

“Daniel, I’m so proud of you.” He snubbed out his cigarette as she walked back inside. He sat there and he remembered all the previous nights the two had spent since the first.

Daniel shed one tear walked back inside, down to the game room and picked up the hunting rifle.

If Mr. El Bail wasn’t gonna do it, Daniel would.

17\. They actually get it right

The loops have grown so different since those first two. However, it’s ironic that the last one is almost identical to the first. Grace and Daniel have just escaped the ritual where Daniel “poisoned” the wine. Grace still has a gunshot wound and a gash across her back and the dress is in shreds. Daniel is a bit of a mess. The butler and maids are dead. Unlike the first time, Grace stole Charity’s gun, again. So Charity can’t kill Daniel this time.

They’re cornered in the dining room by Becky and Alex. 

“Grace, Daniel, what’s happening?” Alex asks and he sounds broken, like every other time.

“He’s stolen her from you Alex. I think he’s betrayed us for her.” Becky whispers into his ear. Grace can see what she’s doing. Bringing Alex back into the fold. Alex folds himself backwards, almost falling into the familial love of his mother.

The rest of the family pours in and joining Becky and Alex against Grace and Daniel. They can’t kill Grace unless it’s the ritual, that’s against the rules. Grace steps in front of Daniel like a shield and brandishes Charity’s revolver.

“You stole from me, you whore.” Charity cries and Grace smiles. Just a few more minutes and then she’ll be a bloody puddle on the floor.

“Sorry Charity, but you maybe shouldn’t have left your purse in the game room when it was empty. Also stealing from you has been one of the highlights of this nightmare.” Grace says, to keep them talking. They all love the sound of their own voice far to much.

“Well how do you know the gun is even loaded?” Charity asks challengingly. Grace smiles and points the gun toward Charity. At the last second she turns it toward the wall and fires.

“Charity don’t try to bullshit me.” Grace says. Charity retreats behind the other members of the family. Tony steps forward past Alex.

“Daniel, get over here this instant. That’s a direct order. You’re on our team, if we lose you lose too. Now hand her over so we can finish the goddamn ritual.” He rants and raves at his son. Too bad he’s been beating down Daniel for years but over the course of seventeen nights, Daniel’s fought back, rebelled. He’s been defeated and died, but he escaped his family many nights ago.

“I’m not on your team, haven’t been on your team since night 1. And all I got out of that was six bullets from my own wife. Charity I want a divorce.” Daniel says.

“Ha, as if you could divorce me! You’ll be dead before the dawn.” Charity said. 

The family fanned out slowly backing the two into the corner. Until Aunt Helene crossed in front of the curtains and a sliver of sunlight hit her face. She turned to it with a snarl.

“No! Curses! Look you idiots, dawn has broken.” Aunt Helene pulled open the curtains to reveal the sun creeping over the horizon. Everyone but Grace and Daniel cower in fear of the light, as if they are vampires.

When nothing happens Aunt Helene turns to Mr. Le Bail’s chair.

“I’m so sorry for failing you.” Fitch breaks the silence next.

“So what now?” Aunt Helene rears up in anger.

“I don’t care, she still dies.” Not for the first time all Grace can see is an angry bitter old woman who lost the love of her life when she didn’t have to. Helene pulls the axe up, preparing to strike and explodes into a puddle of blood.

Grace laughs, full blown laughs. Charity pleads, as she always does but she explodes too and Daniel joins Grace in hysterical laughter. 

Emilie, poor fucked up Emilie tries to escape with her kids. This time they don’t even reach the door before exploding into a huge mess of blood.

Fitch goes next and exits this world in an equally hilarious way as he lived in it.

Tony rants again, which is laughable and promptly explodes all over Becky. Grace and Daniel try and catch their breath.

Becky isn’t fazed and with a stone cold calm takes out her cigarette case and her lighter and tosses them to Grace. She faces death with the cool grace that elevates her from the rest of the family, if only marginally. With a last blown kiss to Daniel and a hug from Alex she explodes in his arms drenching Grace’s husband in blood.

Alex turns and Grace knows he’s going to plead again. She lets him plead for his life because he deserves to have hope and then let her crush it. She smiles and looks to Daniel who nods to her. She removes the ring from her finger slowly and toss it at him.

“I want a divorce.” He promptly explodes all over her and Daniel. They both smile and laugh out loud.

The spirit of Mr. Le Bail appears and nods to both of them this time. Seems they made a team effort possible.

They walk out of the burning mansion, down the steps and sit on the bottom few. Grace pops open the cigarette case takes two cigarettes, hands one to Daniel and with the lighter, sparks both. Daniel has a bottle of brandy in his hand that he snagged on the way out and they pass it between them as the sirens get closer.

Grace has sat on these steps alone fourteen times before now. Daniel has sat alone on these steps twice.

They sit on them together once.

Grace doesn’t feel numb or angry or sad. She feels exhausted but also some might say content.

She leans her head on Daniel’s shoulder. He leans his head on hers.

The EMTs swarm them as the house blazes at their backs.

“Excuse me, could you please tell us what happened?” The EMT asks.

“Family.” The reply in unison.


End file.
